Juvenile Frontosa holding, need help please!!!

8031 Views 24 Replies 10 Participants Last post by chad311k9, Jun 1, 2008

chad311k9

Discussion Starter · Mar 30, 2008

I bought a juvenile frontosa a couple weeks ago that is holding eggs. she has a tank all to herself right now. i really want to get some fry from her, but she is so young (and small.) I think she may end up swallowing the eggs. On the other hand I think she is too small to strip her eggs. i am 6'7" and have very large hands, fingers, etc... and I just can't decide what to do. my gut says let her try it on her own. from head to tail she must be only 2 inches long. i'm looking for someone with good frontosa experience to steer me in the right direction. the only other thing i have observed was when she spit one egg out(small orangish color.) not sure what that meant. thank you, chad.

1 - 20 of 25 Posts

Charles

· #2 · Mar 30, 2008

The smallest frontosa I have for holding eggs is 3.5".

I am almost sure your frontosa is not holding. She/he could be holding air during the transport or introducing it to a new tank. It happens quite often with the new fish. Check to see if you can see eggs in its mouth. Another easy way to tell is: 1) frontosa holding eggs will swim and stay normal position. 2) frontosa holding air in its mouth will slightly pointing down trying not to let the air bubble escape.

Razzo

· #3 · Mar 30, 2008

Are you sure your Frontosa is a Frontosa? There are other cichlids that have "similar" coloration (ie. Neolamprologus tretocephalus). Got a pic?

Razzo

· #4 · Mar 30, 2008

Razzo said:
Are you sure your Frontosa is a Frontosa? There are other cichlids that have "similar" coloration (ie. Neolamprologus tretocephalus). Got a pic?

Opps, Neolamprologus tretocephalus is a substrate spawner. Got pics?

chad311k9

Discussion Starter · #5 · Mar 30, 2008

camera cable is broke, so sorry no pics. 100% sure she is holding. as i stated earlier, i seen her spit one egg out, and I can see a lot of orange/red in the back of her throat. mouth is so small it is hard to see any definition. also 100% sure she is a frontosa. i can also see a reddish "tint" from the exterior of her body, where the eggs would be located in her mouth. jaw is also protruding. the other 20 fronts in the tank I bought her from all had normal looking jaws. since her mouth is so small and she has held this long already, I think I will avoid stripping the eggs. i know it seems unlikely she could be sexually mature so young, so i am also baffled, but excited. she is no bigger than 2 nickels side by side. maybe i can borrow a camera from my neighbor, i really want people to see this, since it's sort of a "see it to believe it" kind of thing, you know, like bigfoot.

Alex0607

· #6 · Mar 31, 2008

Please post the pics. Love to see it.

Charles

· #7 · Mar 31, 2008

wow, sounds like she is holding. That would be the smallest frontosa fish I have ever heard of holding. I would like to see a measurment placing next to glass and a picture of her. It could be an amazing photo.

Keep us update of how she is doing.

chago

· #8 · Mar 31, 2008

this is super interesting!!!, please keep us informed!

bacpoo

· #9 · Apr 1, 2008

Very interesting. We can prove the old timers and avid front keepers that they could be wrong about how young a front can hold. I have had fronts for a long time and have never seen a 2 inch front holding. This is a freak of nature, with my experience and what others say fronts need to be at least 2 yrs old to be mature enough. Males take even longer. Please take a pic of this, otherwise no one will beleive you. I am not saying you are lying but people will be skeptical.

Charles

· #10 · Apr 1, 2008

bacpoo said:
Very interesting. We can prove the old timers and avid front keepers that they could be wrong about how young a front can hold. I have had fronts for a long time and have never seen a 2 inch front holding. This is a freak of nature, with my experience and what others say fronts need to be at least 2 yrs old to be mature enough. Males take even longer. Please take a pic of this, otherwise no one will beleive you. I am not saying you are lying but people will be skeptical.

Actually, I have seen 2 frontosa which are older than 2 years and size = 2" only.

A mature fish doesn't have to be big. Most mature frontosa I see in other people's tank stay pretty much 6-7" for years. My immature burundi was at 6" in the first year...

chad311k9

Discussion Starter · #11 · Apr 1, 2008

bacpoo said:
Please take a pic of this, otherwise no one will beleive you. I am not saying you are lying but people will be skeptical.

truth is i'm skeptical, and i can see with my own eyes! i don't need people on here to believe me, i've already had 3 non-believing LFS employees over to my house to witness this.(good way to get those fish loving little hotty employees over. funny, this fish got me a

opcorn: date, lol.) i don't get out of the house much, working on the camera thing.... if only i had some AAA's laying around

GJx

· #12 · Apr 1, 2008

Charles said:
bacpoo said:

Very interesting. We can prove the old timers and avid front keepers that they could be wrong about how young a front can hold. I have had fronts for a long time and have never seen a 2 inch front holding. This is a freak of nature, with my experience and what others say fronts need to be at least 2 yrs old to be mature enough. Males take even longer. Please take a pic of this, otherwise no one will beleive you. I am not saying you are lying but people will be skeptical.

Click to expand...

Actually, I have seen 2 frontosa which are older than 2 years and size = 2" only.

A mature fish doesn't have to be big. Most mature frontosa I see in other people's tank stay pretty much 6-7" for years. My immature burundi was at 6" in the first year...

Well aslong as I've kept Fronts, I can honestly say that I've never seen a 2" mature female. That would throw me off if ever I was to see it. I'D LOVE TO SE THAT PIC!!!!

Charles

· #13 · Apr 1, 2008

me too... picture with like a penny taped on the outside of the tank to see the relative size...

It is just hard to believe a 2" frontosa holding eggs. With my experience, I can raise them from egg to 2" in less than 4-5 months...

chad311k9

Discussion Starter · #14 · Apr 1, 2008

best pickup line ever...... "wanna come over and check out my frontosa?" lol!!!

chad311k9

Discussion Starter · #15 · Apr 1, 2008

how do i post a picture? do i need a special program? if i do, i would rather email Charles the pictures to post, rather than download more stuff on my computer. cheap camera so pics won't be very good. she is camera shy so i've been having trouble getting a good photo. will try a little later for a good shot.[/img]

Charles

· #16 · Apr 1, 2008

you can email me the picture and I can post it for you.

chad311k9

Discussion Starter · #17 · Apr 2, 2008

ok i tried with my son's $20 walmart camera, and the program that transfers the pictures keeps shutting down(nero photoshoot). i'm sorry to all for all the suspense, but it's gonna be a couple days before I can get some pictures up. charles, sounds good, i'll PM you when I get the photos. by the way i looked at you spawn log, and noticed your eggs were a different color. mine seem to be reddish orange. does that mean they are not fertile?

Charles

· #18 · Apr 2, 2008

white = not fertile. Orange is actually sounds pretty good. How many days is it now?

GJx

· #19 · Apr 2, 2008

I assure you Chad, it's worth waiting for.

Thanks

LJx

cichlidgirl1

· #20 · Apr 9, 2008

I just read this post. Facinating. What ever happened ? She still holding ? Any pics, even crappy ones ? Thanks, CG

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